Personal healthcare accounts?

Was watching TV and they explained that if you don't use you're healthcare savings account, you lose it.
Why would you put money into one of these and not just put it in the bank so you can keep it if you don't use it?
What am I missing? Is it just the tax savings?

You would have an account, tax free, to cover your medical expenses. You get no help from insurance companies, ie you pay all your medical costs out of your own pocket. Completely in the opposite direction we should be going on this.

and its great if you have certain fixed costs associated with health care. it is definitely not for emergencies.

solutions to the whole problem (note the flag) :7

up such an account to pay for those catastrophic illnesses that wipe out any funds they might have saved just to stay alive.

My dear friend just died on the 5th. Her husband is left owing $35,000 for meds bought in the last 2 years for her cancer treatment. Now he can't pay for it since their income which was social security except for a small pension from his former company is now severely cut. He's going to have to declare bankruptcy which is a big blow to his pride, but he has no choice.

for that very reason.so sorry about your friend.

organization.

I just freaking hate it when somebody comes up with an "idea" that's supposed to help us but doesn't do crap in reality except part you from your money.

If you overestimate you lose the money. If you underestimate you pay the difference at uninsured rates. Both ways you lose. Tell these people to stuff it where the sun don't shine.

The missing fact: it is your money. You don't lose it.

You must have misunderstood what the T.V. said or the person who explained it was a moron.

It's a tax free way to pay for general medical expenses. Instead of you paying the insurance company $600 a month for coverage, you put that into an account, tax free. No income tax on the account. If it is structured right, it might not be a bad idea for a segment of the population.

You will always need catastrophe insurance for the really big expenise medical problems

in a medical re-imbursement account last year. It was a pre-tax dollars account to cover medical expenses not covered by insurance (I was also paying about $450 a month for the insurance). The re-imbursement account was to re-imbuse my expenses for deductables, chiropractic, eye care, dental, etc.

The rule was that if you didn't use it all by the end of the year, you lost it.

I didn't use it all and lost about $1,000.

It would be better if accounts like this rolled-over and accumulated so that you'd have the money in the account for a year when you had greater expenses.

Someone got your money.

My understanding was you loss the tax exempt portion of that money.

I maintained the tax expemption on it but the $1,000 sitting in the account went to the administers of the account.

Not just the savings from tax exemption. It is absolutely ridiculous. The company is allowed to use the forfeited money to administer the program.
"Tax free savings accounts" are the Republicans way of saying, "We don't want to lift one little finger to help people that don't have the money to pay for things, but we will allow them to have tax free savings accounts to save money for the things that you can't afford already."

My physician moved out of the area and suggested a WONDERFUL replacement.

When I contacted that doc, I was told the office no longer accepts ANY insurance but rather they accept annual fees UP FRONT which cover the costs of office visits for the following year.

Needless to say, I told them that while I sympathize with the craziness of dealing with insurance companies, this was beyond unacceptable and that I wish them all the worst with their new change of policy.

WTF?

We need universal health care in the USA and I'm not just talking 'access to' ... but the care itself!

There are actually 2 types of accounts.

FSA -- Flexible Spending Account, also known as a Cafeteria plan, or 125. This has been around for a long time, and IT IS use it or lose it. Only available if your employer makes it so. This is a supplament to your regular health plan, and can be a good tax savings if you have ongoing expenses, as contributions are tax deductible for both income taxes and FICA.

HSA -- Health Savings Account, relatively new, can be taken out in a corporate or individual environment. These are savings accounts (can be invested), coupled with a high deductible health policy 2,000-5,000. The idea is that your major expenses are covered, but minor expenses are up to you. Commonly, the employer will put 1/2-3/4 of the deductible in the account annually, and you can also put money away. This account IS CARRIED over from year to year.

IMHO, is to high income folks like attorneys, etc. who have to purchase their own health insurance and also need a tax break.

I personally have a high deductible for my car insurance and for my renter's insurance. HSA are just ways of making high deductible insurance even more affordable and easy to use.

--namely, fuck off and die! It makes about as much sense as an account to pay the fire department in case of a fire--just an unbelievably stupid way to administer what should be a public good.